Lok Sabha is currently conducting a debate on the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA government. Rahul Gandhi, Congress president might be leading the opposition charges, and the Prime Minister will be replying to the debate.

In the first set of debate, the opposition will be bringing on the floor the issue like safety of women, mob lynching, Jammu and Kashmir and plight of farmers. The Government will also be presenting the views ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the house of 524 members, the NDA has 315 MPs and 63 UPA to support them. AIADMK, BJD, and TRS will also be in focus, they have 37,19 and 11 MPs respectively. Several regional parties have maintained the neutral stand instead of supporting either party.

Today’s no-confidence motion is the 27th such debated in the history of parliament and is the first to be admitted in last 15 years. The last such debate took place in 2003 when Congress party held a no-confidence motion against prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

What an astonishing performance by @RahulGandhi. It was a game-changing speech, tearing apart the Govt ’s claims & ending with that unscripted hug that has literally taken the BJP’s breath away #BhukampAaGaya

14:37 (IST)- MP Saugata Roy is addressing the House now

Roy says “no-trust isn’t a matter of number crunching, but one of the principles. There is already no confidence against the government, he says, pointing to the empty BJD benches.”

14:27 (IST)- AIADMK MP addressing Now

“The Centre has meted out step-motherly treatment to the state. He adds that there is a long pending request of Tamil Nadu to release money to the state for centrally-sponsored schemes. Many ministers have gone back on their commitments.”

“Remember, we are still not sure which way the AIADMK, which has 37 MPs in the House, will vote this evening.”

14:23 (IST)- Digvijaya Singh calls for the resignation of Defence Minister; says she is ‘misleading the nation’

Defence Minister has clearly misled the Nation by giving a wrong statement that India and France has a secret pact of secrecy as exposed by Rahul Gandhi. She must resign.

14:14 (IST)- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman now addressing the House

On the Rafale deal that was referred to by Rahul Gandhi, she says, “We (India) are following the secrecy clause signed by the then defense minister A K Anthony. The French President has said in an interview that details of the deal could not be disclosed due to competition from other companies.” Gandhi had accused Sitharaman of lying about the deal.

14:10 (IST) –Rahul done with his speech and then hugs Modi

Rahul Gandhi hugged the prime minister and shook hands with him

Rahul Gandhi hugged the prime minister and shook hands with him

14:07 (IST) “You think I have a hatred for Modi”

“You think I have a hatred for Modi, but I am indebted to Modi, BJP, RSS because they have taught me what it means to work for Congress and what it means to be a Hindu.” says Rahul.

14:03 (IST) – “The difference between us and PM and Amit Shah is that we are willing to lose power”

“Whenever someone is attacked, it is an attack on BR Ambedkar, the Constitution and this House. When your minister talks about changing the Constitution, it is an attack on India. We will not tolerate this,” Gandhi said.

“The difference between us and PM and Amit Shah is that we are willing to lose power. The PM and president of BJP can’t afford to lose power, because when they do other processes will start against them. The prime minister and BJP president act out of fear. This is the fear that is translating in India” he added.

“This is the first time that women safety is in such bad conditions. There are reports of attacks on Dalits, Adivasis, and minorities. The prime minister never says a word about them. Are they not a part of our country? Instead, their ministers go and garland the convicts. There is an Indian getting beaten in every corner, but the pm stays mum.”

13:55 (IST)– Rahul Gandhi resumes his speech

“Don’t be afraid of the truth. We were talking about the farmers. There was a new jumla strike by the government called the MSP. I want to tell the farmers that in MSP the government has given 10,000 crore benefit to the farmers. In Karnataka, the CM has given a benefit of Rs 34,000 crore to farmers in one state.”

13:50 (IST) – Lok Sabha resumes

The Lok Sabha has resumed. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan requests members to maintain decorum and debate in an appropriate way.

3:39 (IST)– House adjourned

Following the uproar and protest the Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 1.45 PM

13:38 (IST)– Gandhi continues his speech

Rahul Gandhi targets the PM saying the government is waiving off loans of the rich but not of farmers. “Farmers are saying, ‘PM you have waived off Rs 2.5 lakh crore of the rich, why don’t you also waive off our loans’, but the government says no, you don’t wear a suit and boot, we can’t do it.” Gandhi also targets the government for the rising petrol prices, saying they are dropping across the world except in India. “It is going up because the PM wants to put money in the pockets of his rich friends.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar quotes Rule 353 — ‘No allegation shall be made against any person unless the member has given adequate notice to the Speaker so that the minister may be able to make an investigation into the matter.’

13:30 (IST)– Rahul Gandhi says ‘PM Modi is smiling but there is a touch of nervousness’

The Congress president says, “The PM is smiling but there is a touch of nervousness in the gentleman and he is looking away from me. He cannot look into my eyes, I understand that. The prime minister cannot be truthful, I understand.” There is laughter in the House to this.

“The Defence Minister has clearly spoken an untruth. The fact of the matter is that the French President has personally told me that there is no secret pact between the two governments. Everybody understands the relationship the PM has with certain business people.

“Everybody can see the amount of money that goes into the marketing of India’s Prime Minister and everybody understands who it comes from. One of those people was given the Rafale contract and he benefitted thousands of crores from it”.

“That contract was withdrawn from HAL and given to the gentleman who benefitted approximately Rs 40,000 crores. The PM must explain whether the Cabinet committee on security benefitted from this deal. Why has a businessman benefitted?” Gandhi says.

On Rafale deal, Rahul Gandhi says, “I don’t know what happened, or who he spoke to, but the PM went to France and magically made the price of an aircraft Rs 16,000 crore. The Defence Minister said she will announce the deal but later said details cannot be provided as India has a secrecy pact with the French govt.”

“I have met the French President and asked him if there’s any such pact between the two governments and he denied it. He also told me that he has no objection in saying this and the whole government can know about it.”

13:23 (IST) – “PM, he doesn’t speak to small businessmen just to the suit boot people”, says Rahul

“The PM doesn’t go out… he travels abroad but never leaves his security cordon. He doesn’t speak to small businessmen just to the suit boot people. What’s in the heart of the poor and marginalized don’t reach the PM,” Rahul says. “You pickpocketed the poor… those who run small businesses and establishments.”

Referring to the PM’s Jio advertisement, Rahul Gandhi adds, “The PM does things for those who help him. But for the rest of the country and its workforce, the PM doesn’t have a place in his heart.

13:20 (IST) – Rahul Gandhi on GST

Rahul Gandhi tells the PM, “The GST was brought by the Congress party. You opposed it when you were the chief minister of Gujarat. We wanted one GST, with petrol and diesel in it, and the country to have one tax with the least disruption. But the PM’s GST now has five taxes, killing small traders and destroying crores of people.”

13:19 (IST)- Rahul Gandhi on demonetization

Rahul Gandhi says, “I don’t know what happened… where you got the message… but at 8 pm you decided to act against black money and initiated the process of demonetization. Maybe you didn’t understand that farmers and the poor transact in cash. In Surat, people told me that PM Modi has caused them the most hurt.”

13:16 (IST) – Rahul Gandhi asks Who will give jobs?

Rahul Gandhi continues, “You said every person will get Rs 15 lakh – this is jhumla No 1. You said two crore youth will get jobs every year, this is jhumla No 2. In 2016-17, all over the country, four lakh people have got jobs according to the labor survey. The Indian youth had faith in the PM as in every speech of his he said he will give 2 crore jobs to the youth.”

“China provided 50,000 youth jobs every day. But the PM generates only 400 youth jobs every day,” Rahul said. Speaking to the PM, he added, “Wherever you go, you speak about jobs — make pakodas, open shops… who will give jobs? Jobs will be given by small business and shops.”

13:10 (IST) – Rahul Gandhi on ‘jhumla strike’

Heard Galla’s speech very carefully. In your speech, I sensed a certain anxiety, a deep feeling of pain and I want to tell you from here that you are the victim of a 21st Century political weapon. A fantastic weapon and you are not alone. There are many victims like you in the country. The weapon is called the ‘jhumla strike’.

The Symptoms of the ‘jhumla strike’ are:

* Great sense of excitement, happiness * there is a feeling of shock * then there are 8 hour long speeches

Who else are victims? Farmers, youth, Dalits, tribals, and women of the country

13:09 (IST)- Rahul Gandhi to Speak next

Congress president and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi will now speak for the Congress.

13:05 (IST)– Rajya Sabha takes a lunch break

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned following Question Hour. The House will reconvene at 2.30 pm. Pretty sure the Rajya Sabha MPs are keen to see what is happening in the Lower House.

13:00 (IST) – ‘Speech is about the country or just about Madhya Pradesh’- Congress asks

The Congress is asking Rakesh Singh, the BJP’s Madhya Pradesh MP, whether his speech is about the country or just about Madhya Pradesh, this given his repeated mentioning of the state. His quick response: ‘I would like to ask my friends in the Congress, do you not like hearing about the development in Madhya Pradesh?’

12:43 (IST)- Numbers

The ruling dispensation requires 249 votes to win the vote of no-trust.

12:40 (IST)- Listing the various policies and benefits initiated by the government, Rakesh Singh says”

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, cleanliness is getting a new aspect. Earlier, everybody shied away from swacchta, but now it is a part of their lives. We are now capable of being global leaders.”

12:34 (IST)- Kharge never became a CM because of Nehru-Gandhi family: Rakesh Singh

The Madhya Pradesh BJP chief took a dig a Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge and said that was because of the Nehru-Gandhi family that Mallikarjun Kharge couldn’t become a chief ministerial face in Karnataka. “We recently saw HD Kumaraswamy crying on TV, he said felt like he was drinking poison,” he added

12:34 (IST)-Rakesh Singh, BJP: Modi has given India a clean govt

“We take pride in saying that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi we have given this nation a clean government,” Singh said, defending the NDA government in the motion of no-confidence debate currently underway in Lok Sabha.

12:28 (IST)- Congress treats people only as vote bank: Rakesh Singh

Continuing his attack against the Congress, BJP’s Rakesh Singh said generations in the country awaited progress to reach their doors but poverty was never eradicated. With our initiatives, we have managed to bring a smile to the faces of people. This is because the Congress treated people as the vote bank. Manmohan Singh said minorities have the first right on country’s resources. However, PM Modi gave new direction by saying that first right on country’s resources is of the poor.” “Under the leadership of PM Modi, we have given the nation a clean government.”

12:26 (IST)- No backing up a no-confidence motion against govt, says AIADMK

AIADMK Parliamentarian V Maitreyan said there is no question of the Tamil Nadu party backing the no-confidence motion as it was spearheaded by the Congress party and its regional rival the DMK.

12:26 (IST)-Congress gave India only scams: BJP leader Rakesh Singh

BJP’s Rakesh Singh is speaking from the ruling party’s side. “The aim of our party is to strengthen democracy. During its rule, the Congress party gave this country multiple scams. However, we gave policies to this country. All these scams have tarnished the image of our country across the globe.”

12:19 (IST) – Protest and anger in Lok Sabha as an MP uses an ‘offensive’ word against PM Modi

Treasury benches are now showing anger after a certain MP used an ‘offensive’ word against the Prime Minister following TDP MP Galla’s address. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan assured the House that she will look into the matter.

12:06 (IST)- Galla Asks Government ‘ fulfill our rights’

‘We are not asking them to deposit Rs 15 lakh in every Andhra resident’s bank account. We are only asking for our rights,’ TDP MP Galla stated, as he concludes his address. “We are not asking you to turn the clock back, we just want justice for Andhra Pradesh.” Quoting Patel, Galla says: “It is a folly to ignore realities; facts take their revenge if they are not faced squarely and well”

11:59 (IST)- Time up for Galla- Now he is wrapping up

Galla will be ending his address now. He told Narendra Modi Government that that have failed to help New state of Andhra Pradesh. He also talked about how crore of money was spent on construction of statues of – Patel in Gujrat and Shivaji in Mumbai and questioning if this money could have been given to new city capital.

You (PM) are singing a different tune which people of Andhra Pradesh are keenly observing and they would give you a befitting reply in the upcoming polls. BJP will be decimated in AP the way Congress was if people of Andhra Pradesh are cheated. Mr PM, it’s not a threat, it’s a ‘shraap’

11:41 (IST)- Galla leading no-confidence motion

Galla has comprehensive documents, news reports and notings to place a demand that the Narendra Modi government should grant Andhra Pradesh a special category status. “You can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” Galla stated while addressing Finance Minister Piyush Goyal.

Goyal has not replied yet and will be taking the issue of what government has done for Andhra Pradesh in the past four years.

11:35 (IST) – Shiva Sena not attending Lok Sabha session today

Shiv Sena will not be present in the Lok Sabha session today. “Absolutely not. We haven’t even signed our attendance,” said Anandrao Adsul, Lok Sabha MP of the Shiv Sena. Neither will Shiva Sena vote on no –confidence.

11:34 (IST)- TDP MP Questioned Modi

Galla quoted Modi of what he had said during the election campaign ahead of the 2014 polls: “Congress killed the mother, saved the child. If I had been there I would have saved the mother too.” Galla says people of Andhra Pradesh fell for this and we decided to be with Modi. But instead of saving Andhra Pradesh, the PM through his Finance Minister announced no Special status would be given to us. If they do, other states will demand too. It’s a baseless and trivial statement. The finance minister should know the difference between the two. Cabinet has approved status for Andhra Pradesh.”

The TDP MP also questioned how the PM could go back on the word of his predecessor asking how a nation could function in that manner. “Mr. PM do you have any respect for commitments made by your predecessor? Should you even have a choice?”

11:29 (IST)- Per capita income gap will only continue to widen’

TDP’s Galla, in his address, said the bifurcation has had an impact on the per capita income of its five crore people. “Despite growing at the fastest pace among southern states, the gap in per capita income is clearly visible and if this continues it will only widen, according to reports.” Galla also said

11:19 (IST)- ‘We are a new state with an old name’ – TDP

Galla said the last four years have posed tremendous challenges for the “new state with an old name”. We need relief but instead of providing relief the Modi government is posing new challenges for us.

11:13 (IST)- No-confidence motion debate is now on

TDP MP Jayadev Galla, TDP, Guntur commences the discussion. He stated “it’s important for him as he’s a first time MP and never before has a first-time MP got a chance to move a motion of no-confidence against the ruling government” “The saga of Andhra Pradesh during this Modi-Shah regime is a saga of empty promises,”

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